Fiber can



R. E. HARRIS March 6, 1934.

FIBER CAN Filed March 6, 1933 Patented Mar. 6, 1934 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIBER CAN corporation of Ohio Application March 6, 1933, Serial No. 659,787

3 Claims. (01. 229-55) My invention relates to fiber cans, the bodies of which have fiber walls and suitable bottoms, the cans being provided with tops usually stamped out of sheet metal.

It is the object of my invention to provide a novel can of this nature, and novel means for forming a sefl between the open end of the can and a removable top; and, further, to provide novel formation for the mouth of the can, and novel formation for the top coacting therewith.

The invention will be further readily understood from the following description and claims, and from the drawing, in which latter:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a can embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical axial section of the upper portion of my improved can, partly broken away, and showing the top seated.

Fig. 3 is a vertical axial section of myimproved device, partly broken away, showing the top partway seated on the body, to show the normal relations between the forms of the upper margin of the wall and the top; and,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a means for forming the upper margin of the wall of the body and affixing the bottom to the body, partly in section and partly broken away.

The body 11 comprises a wall 12 shown tubular in cross-section. This wall is usually cylindrical. It is of fiber, usually termed fiber-board, and is suitably fabricated. It is provided with a bottom 13 usually permanently secured to the tube. It has a top 14 which is removable, and is a rigid structure, being usually stamped out of sheet metal, but may be of other material suitably formed.

The top comprises a marginal depending flange 15, at the inside of which there is a downwardly inwardly sloping wall 16, which, with the outer wall, forms an upwardly extending upwardly contracting groove 17. The marginal wall is preferably substantially longer than the inner sloping wall. The upper end of the groove is formed by the upper bend 18 between the upper edges of the walls 15 and 16. This upper bend is preferably rounded in cross-section.

At the lower inner edge of the wall 16 there is a bend 19 from which an upwardly inwardly sloping wall 20 extends to the upper cross wall 21 of the top.

The upper margin of the fiber-board wall of the body is compressed and bent cross-sectionally slightly inward for providing the wall with an upper tapering margin 25, which becomes thinner toward said upper end and leans as at 26, toward the axis of the can, providing the outer face of this upper margin with an upper inward slope 27, and forming said upper margin with a resilient inwardly contracting upper edge whose outer face is of slightly less diameter than the diameter of the inner face of the depending flange 15, as shown by the space 28.

The upper end of the sloping wall 16 merges with the inner portion of the upper bend 18, and forms a cross-sectional upwardly and outwardly sloping face which is contacted by the inner face of the upper edge of the compressed upper margin of the fiber-board wall, as at 29 in Fig. 2, for forming a tight joint and seal between the inner face of the upper edge of the wall and the inner wall of the marginal groove in the top when the top is seated upon the body. This flexes the upper margin of the fiber-board wall radially outward in resilient manner to cause the outer face of said upper margin to closely hug and to form a tight joint and seal with the inner face of the marginal depending wall 15 of the top, as

at 30 in Fig. 2, when the top is seated upon the body.

The bottom 13 is formed with a depending flange 33, from which a marginal reversely bent flange 34 projects upwardly for forming the annular groove 35, in which the lower end 36 of the fiber-board wall is received. The upper edge of this outer flange is then crimped upon the lower margin of the fiber-board wall, by providing the upper end of this outer flange with an inward curl 3'7, as by means of crimping rollers 38, which are rotatable upon axles 39 extending from a head 40 of a suitable crimping machine.

During this crimping action the open end of the fiber-board tube is received in an annular groove of a rotatable chuck 46 in said machine, being pushed axially thereinto during the operation of the machine, for compressing the margin of the open end of said tube and flexing it slightly toward the axis of the tube, to provide the form of the upper margin of the tube hereinbefore explained. This annular groove has an inwardly tapering inner wall 4'7, and an inwardly tapering outer wall 48, tapering to greater extent than the inner wall, both walls tapering toward the axis of the tube and forming the inwardly contracting groove 45.

The mouth of this annular groove is of suflicient width to readily receive the end of the fiberboard wall, and the outer wall of this annular groove tapers inwardly, so that its seating end is of less diameter than the normal diameter of the fiber-board wall, and the diameter of the seating end of the inner wall 47 is such with relation to the diameter of the seating end of said outer wall 48 as to compress the margin of said fiber-board tube and provide it with an inwardly tapering diminishing end, which is readily received in the depending flange of the top.

The body of the can is pressed in axial direction between the chuck 46 and the head 40 for forcing the outer margin of the fiber-board wall of the body into the annular groove 45 of the chuck and forming said margin in the manner stated. During this endwise compressive action of the fiber-board wall the bottom 13 is contacted by the flanges 49 of the crimping rollers at the margin of said bottom, and the cross wall 50 of the bottom is contacted by a middle pad 51 on the head.

The manner of attaching a bot-tom to the lower end of the body of the can, and the manner of forming the mouth end of the body, herein shown and described, are mere exemplifications.

The mouth end of the fiber-board wall of the body of my improved container forms a plurality of joints or sealing contacts with the top of the can; the friction top is readily applied and removed, and marring of the margin of the body is avoided.

The top forms a multiple seal with the mouth of the body which is effective after repeated use,

resiliency of the mouth of the body is retained,

during repeated openings and closings of the can, and the top is frictionally held to the mouth with sufiicient security to avoid the necessity of applying the usual securing strip about the can lapping over the adjacent portions of the top and body, and to avoid the necessity of having a label extend over such adjacent portions, thus enabling labels to be applied more readily, and while the top and body are in separated relations, and saving expense.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A container comprising a body having an upright fiber-board wall and a removable top formed with a marginal depending flange at the inside of which there is a downwardly inwardly sloping wall forming an upwardly extending upwardly contracting marginal groove, said fiberboard wall having an upper margin which has a compressed reduced upper resilient edge of normally less diameter than the diameter of the upper portion of said downwardly inwardly sloping wall and received in said groove, with said compressed reduced upper edge resiliently spread to greater diameter by said downwardly inwardly sloping wall and clamped between the upwardly contracting side walls of said groove whereby to seal said container.

2. A container comprising a body having an upright fiber-board wall which has an upper margincompressed into cross-sectionally taperedform slanting upwardly and inwardly, with the upper end of its inner face of normally less diameter than the diameter of the inner face of the body of said fiber-board wall, and a removable top formed with a marginal depending flange at the inside of which there is a downwardly inwardly sloping wall forming an upwardly extending upwardly contracting marginal groove, with the upper end of said inner face of said upper margin of normally less diameter than the diameter of said downwardly inwardly sloping wall, with said outer end of said inner face resiliently spread to greater diameter by said downwardly inwardly sloping wall, and said margin clamped between the upwardly contracting walls of said groove to seal said container.

3. A container comprising a body having an upright fiber-board wall and a removable top formed with a marginal depending flange at the inside of which there is a downwardly inwardly sloping wall forming an upwardly extending upwardly contracting marginal groove, said fiberboard wall having an upper margin compressed into a normal cross-sectionally tapered form slanting upwardly and inwardly and having an inner face slanting inwardly so as to be of less diameter than the body of said fiber-board wall, and of less diameter than the diameter of said downwardly inwardly sloping wall, with the outer end of said inner face resiliently spread to greater than normal diameter by said downwardly inwardly sloping wall, and said upper margin resiliently spread into line with said upright fiberboard wall by the seating of said removable top upon said upper margin.

ROBERT E. HARRIS. 

